The Letter
by Stalker Fudge
Summary: IF pairing Ingrid writes a letter for Fillmore, but before he reads it, it's stolen. Who took it and why did it matter to the theif? For that matter, how did they know?
1. Chapter 1

Hey. This is my very first Fillmore fiction. So don't kill me if it's not all that good.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the show.

.--.BEGIN STORY.--.

Ingrid sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time since she'd sat down at her desk in her room with the intention of writing the letter. The letter that had consumed her mind and kept her distracted.

She was dressed in a long light blue night shirt. It fell just below her knees and the soft material rested on her knees. The airconditioner in her window let a gust of cool air blow into her room. Her bangs danced over her face. She sighed and smacked her head on the hard wood surface.

"I am going to die." She grabbed the paper and reread it. "Is this what I want? I don't know." There was a knock on her door and Ariella walked in.

"What are you doing?" Ingrid turned around.

"Knock much?"

"What do you have to hide?" Ingrid folded the note gingerly and slid it into an envelope.

"Nothing. Just a note."

"To who?"

"None of your business."

"Oh. Didn't know Cornelius changed his name." Ingrid turned to face her older sister.

"And who said this was for Fillmore?"

"That look in your eyes says it all Ing. You finally asking him out?"

"No. It's a note. No big deal."

"By the way you're acting I can tell it is a big deal to you."

"Did you just come in here to torture me?"

"No. I just came in to tell you dad wants you to go to bed." Ingrid rolled her eyes. "You really want dad to come up here and start guessing what you're up to?" Ingrid sighed and wrote Cornelius Fillmore on the envelope before sliding it on her bag. "I knew it."

"You don't know anything. Get out so I can go to bed." Ariella stood up and made her way to the door.

"Fine. Goodnight gnat."

"Late."

.--.6:30 THE NEXT MORNING.--.

Ingrid sighed and slung her bag over her shoulder. She had been awake since 4:30, a typical school morning for her. Although, instead of reading or going over case notes like usual, she had sat up thinking about Fillmore. Why was she going to give him the note? Was she that pathetic?

"I'm headed to school." She didn't expect to hear any answer, she just grabbed a snack bar off the counter and walked out the door. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and kept walking. She was wearing her normal black outfit. As she rounded a corner and saw the large red 'X', she became increasingly nervous. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

"Hey Ingrid!" Ingrid turned to see Danny O'Farrell walking towards her.

"Hey Danny." She sighed. She had really hoped he'd be sick today. (AN: And no, I'm not bashing. I love Danny's character. Ingrid is just nervous, and she doesn't want him of all people to notice the note.)

"What's that?" He pointed to the envelope in her hand. "A letter for Fillmore? Why a letter? Why don't you ever write me a letter?" She rolled her eyes. There was no backing out now. The mouth knew about the letter.

"It's just a letter. You know, just stuff… between a couple friends." She opened the door and followed Danny in the office. She laid the envelope inside the top drawer and carefully closed it. A shadow backed away from the door, unnoticed.

"Oh, you think you're getting away with this? We'll see who wins this round."

.--.END CHAPTER.--.

Ok, so that is done. What do you think? Short, I know. But it is the first chapter of my first story.

Who is the shadow and what will happen? (I love cliffy's!)

Please RnR! (No flames please.)


	2. Warnings and Fear

Hey, I'm back with the second chapter. Thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fillmore or the characters/places affiliated with it.

.--.BEGIN CHAPTER.--.

Ingrid leaned her head on her hand and yawned. Her eyelids began to droop down as she hummed the tune to an annoying little song. Danny was at sitting on her left side. Karen was sitting on her far right. An empty chair sat beside her. Vallejo was standing at attention by Principal Folsom's side at her desk. Ingrid's eyes snapped open as she heard the door open and close with a loud thunk.

"Hey, y'all didn't start the party without me did you?"

"Fillmore. Glad you could join us, have a seat." Fillmore grabbed the empty chair and slid in beside his partner. He leaned towards her a bit.

"Yo, Ing… know what she wants?"

"Not a clue. You were late."

"Had some bike troubles. What were you scared I wasn't going to be here?" Ingrid blushed a bit.

"No, just worried that I might get some peace and quiet today."

"Come on girl, you'd be lost without me." Once again, Ingrid's pale cheeks reddened. She wasn't used to blushing.

"Maybe…"

"Alright, let's make this quick…"

"What about Joseph?" Folsom turned to O'Farrell.

"Anza's sick. He's got pink-eye and will be out of school for awhile." Danny reached up and rubbed his eyes.

"You don't think he left the germs at school do you?" Folsom rolled her eyes.

"I guess that you are wondering why you are all here this morning instead of being in first period with you fellow students." There was a chorus of murmured yeses as she motioned for Vallejo to sit down. "I wanted to tell you all together that the superintendent is coming for an inspection of the school's safety patrol. He wants to know why taxpayer's dollars are being spent on things the _safety patrol_ ruins."

"So now he's involving himself?"

"Hush!" Folsom took a deep breath. "Anything at all goes wrong, and you will all lose your badges and the Safety Patrol will be closed down indefinitely." Ingrid sucked in her breath. "Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Now all of you get out of my office and go clean up the HQ." All the students filled out behind Vallejo. Fillmore grabbed Ingrid's arm.

"You do know what this means right?"

"We're going to have to say good-bye to the safety patrol?" Fillmore sighed.

"Every time she says something…"

"I know… bad karma." Ingrid paused as she saw Danny turn around with 'that' look on his face. She knew he was going to say something she would regret.

"Hey Fillmore, why did you get a letter and I didn't?"

"What?" Ingrid crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well Ingrid put that letter in the envelope in your top desk drawer. She's never written me a letter before."

"Well this is the first I've heard of it. This is a first for me as well." He turned to her. "What's in it?"

"Well…"

"Hey! 'X' Middle School Safety Patrol! Freeze!" Karen's voice of authority reached a nervous Ingrid's ears.

"I knew it… no rest for the weary right?" They arrived at the door of Safety Patrol HQ as a figure in a black ensemble ran into the distance.

"What were they up to Tehama?" Karen turned to Fillmore.

"They were in the HQ. Looks like they took an interest in your desk." Fillmore and Ingrid weren't sure why they didn't go for the chase, but they noticed that Fillmore's top drawer in his desk was ajar.

"Oh snap." They ran inside and Fillmore took a quick sweep of the objects inside it. "It doesn't look like anything's missing." Ingrid sighed.

"Maybe they freaked and left before they got what they wanted." Karen shook her head.

"They were already walking out of the office when I called attention to myself." Danny walked up behind them. Ingrid willed him to keep his mouth shut, but as she could tell by today's events so far, today was not a lucky day for her.

"Wait, where's the letter?" Fillmore ran his fingers over everything.

"Not here. Weird, someone stole the note? Why?" His question was cut short by the fire alarm. They all exited the room via the fire exit and stood and waited for the bell to go back in. Vallejo looked worried.

"What's up?"

"Third, there was no drill scheduled for today."

"What?" Then they felt the heat. The smoke rose into the air as ear-piercing sirens filled the sky.

"Oh snap! It's a real fire!" Ingrid's face filled with shook as she instinctively backed up. Her eyes filled with tears.

"No…"

"Ing? Are you ok?" Fillmore took a step towards Ingrid, but she wrapped her arms around her head and pulled her body towards the ground. "Ingrid?"

"Not fire… I can't…" Her voice was full of fear. Fillmore looked towards Vallejo and motioned for him to escort Danny to where Karen had already moved away to. He leaned down to her side.

"Fire problems?"

"Big." Her voice wavered.

"You wanna talk about it?" He managed to get her out of her fetal position to move her over to a tree so they could talk away from the fire and others. "So?"

"When I was younger… my sister and I… we shared a room. And when my uncle Mike came over, he ended up staying in our room on my bed and I slept on the air mattress on the floor. He was a smoker… he fell asleep with a ciggerett and it caught the bed on fire." Fillmore listened with intensity and felt his chest tighten a bit.

"Woah…"

"Yeah… he didn't get out… alive. I woke up to… his… screaming. Ariella's bed was right next to it. She almost didn't wake up… I had to pull her off the bed to get her up… We had to jump out the window…" She let her head fall back on the tree.

"Wow Ing… that sounds horrible. How old were you?"

"I was six."

.--.END CHAPTER.--.

Alright. Chapter 2 is done. What do you think?

Please RnR! And please don't flame… I think there was enough fire in this chapter.


	3. Center of Attention

Hey. Back with another chapter. Thanks for the review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fillmore.

.--.BEGIN CHAPTER.--.

Ingrid looked down at her notebook. The fire had been started in room 206. A Chemistry lab. Not to mention a chemistry lab that didn't have any classes in it first period. It was a deliberate attempt. Or so it would seem. It more then just crossed her mind that it could have been a distraction.

Just her luck, once she had calmed down and the firemen had declared it safe for them to re-enter to school, it was fourth period. They had to make sure toxic chemicals were at a minimum. Her fourth period class was Chemistry in room 206.

Looking up, she could see the blackened wall where the place had set fire. Memories flashed before her eyes. Thoughts and fears. The reoccurring dream of what would have happened if she had not been woken up by the neighbor's barking dogs. What would have happened if Ariella hadn't have woken.

She brushed away tears and sighed. She never dwelled on the past. It didn't help anything. She tried focusing on the teacher, but the room smelled of smoke still. Her photographic memory went back to the flames and smoke they had seen sitting outside. How had he done that? How had Fillmore got her to open up and share her deepest secret? Reveal her darkest fear.

"Ms. Third?" Ingrid looked up at the teacher.

"Yeah?"

"As I was saying, will you please explain to Billy what the lesion was yesterday?" Ingrid racked her brain. Then something happened that hadn't happened ever before.

"I… don't remember." Everyone gasped.

"Are you ok Ms. Third?" She looked into Mr. Durington's eyes. She was known for her memory. It's what made Ingrid, Ingrid… at least to the student body it was.

"I…"

"Do you want to go see the nurse?" She was too confused to form any words. She just simply nodded.

"Dude… what's up with the goth chick?" Ingrid cringed. She wasn't gothic. She just liked the darker clothes. And it's not like she could help her skin color.

"Third can't remember?"

"Did the aliens abduct her?"

"What's going on?"

"Do you think she has amneisia?"

"I wonder if it's contagous…" She sighed and she felt her sin sizzle at the heat of all the students eyes on her as she walked out of the room.

"Third?" Ingrid turned to see Principal Folsom walking towards her.

"You're walking?"

"Yeah. It accualy is helping with the stress. Ha, who knew? Where are you going?"

"Nurses."

"What? Why? Are you sick?" Ingrid thought about it for a bit.

"I don't think so… I… forgot what the Chem lesson was about yesterday."

"What? You forgot?"

"I know." Ingrid looked off into the distance. "Hard to believe."

"Really hard. Here, no need to go to the nurses. Nothing's wrong with you, you're stressed. Here, walk with me." Ingrid didn't need to be told twice, she just turned and followed.

.--.LUNCH TIME.--.

Ingrid walked in the cafeteria. Once again, she felt all eyes on her. This was much worse. There were lots more students. She walked to the back of the cafeteria and sat with the other safety patrollers.

"Hey." She took her place next to Fillmore and across from Karen. Danny sat next to Karen and across from Fillmore.

"Hey Ing. How you feeling?" She looked at Fillmore with confusion.

"Fine…"

"We heard about what happened in Chemistry."

"Yeah. It was like… Twilight Zone or something." She turned to Danny. Karen just rolled her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Dunno. Folsom thinks it's just stress."

"You went to Folsom?" She shook her head.

"No. I ran into her on the way to the Nurse, she told me to walk with her and relieve stress that way, rather then waste my time."

"You walked with Folsom?"

"Folsom walks?"

"Yes, and I know… I was surprised too."

"Ing?"

"Yeah Fillmore?"

"About that letter…" She sighed.

"I don't think this is the time or place to discuss safety patrol business Cornelius."

"Ouch. Cold dawg. With the name and such." She smiled.

"That's me. Ms. Ice." The lunch bell rang. "Oops. Got to go. See you at HQ after school guys."

"Later Third."

"See ya Ingrid."

"Yeah, we'll talk then after school Ms. Ice."

"Alright loser. Late." With that, she walked towards the door. Sure, to Fillmore the stolen letter seemed to be safety patrol business. Little did he know it held Ingrid's heart. And she needed to get it back before that became fuel for the student body's sudden interest in her.

.--.END CHAPTER.--.

Alright. What do you think?

Please RnR.


	4. Bad to Worse

Hey y'all. Vampslaya89 is back with another chapter. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fillmore.

.--.BEGIN CHAPTER.--.

Ingrid sat and for once in her life prayed the final bell would not sound. The dreaded sound filled her ears and she sighed. She knew she had to go to safety patrol HQ now. And that meant talking to Fillmore about the note.

"Man, why Danny? Why can't Karen have been there instead of Danny?" She closed her eyes. All eyes were on her as she walked to her locker. Stalling for time.

"Hey, there's that Third girl." She took out her math book and placed it in her locker.

"At least I don't have any homework." She shrugged.

"Dude, there's that girl with amnesia." Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"I think I'll take my science book home to re-cover it though. It's seen better days."

"Poor girl…" She twisted around to face a bunch of girls in a circle.

"I'm not deaf! I can hear you!" She slammed her locker door and began to storm off to HQ.

"Oh wow… that poor child."

"Maybe she'd be better if she had some decent clothes and…"

"I can still hear you." They stopped talking until she was out of sight. The silence was eerie. As all the other students filed away, a dark hooded figure stepped from the shadows and waked to Ingrid's locker.

"24-17-36" The lock clicked open. Down the hall Ingrid stopped in her tracks.

"Crackers! I forgot my wallet." Her wallet had her badge, her student ID, and many pictures of family and friends in it along with a 20 for an after school pizza. She turned around and walked towards her locker, hoping the girls were gone. She rounded the corner. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" The figure caught a glimpse of Ingrid and ran for it. She ran to her locker and scanned it.

Her black boot came in contact with her locker door hard. The door slammed shut and she hit her head against the neighboring locker. Her wallet was gone. She let out a frustrated scream. This day was getting ridiculous.

.--.AT SAFETY PATROL HQ.--.

Fillmore sat on his desk and sighed. He ran his fingers over all his stuff. Just the letter was gone. He looked towards Ingrid's desk, then at the door. She still wasn't there yet. He stood up and got a mug of hot chocolate. He paced the floor with it and sighed.

"What's on your mind Fillmore?" He jumped a bit.

"What? Oh. Nothing Karen. I just can't believe Ingrid's not here yet."

"Oh. I see." There was a sly grin on her face.

"Karen! I just mean that she knows I need to know what was in that note. If it's classified information…"

"Yep. Sure." Fillmore blushed.

"Seriously Karen!" Ingrid rushed into the room, nearly knocking Danny off his feet in the process. "Ing? What's wrong?" She put a hand on her forehead where a large red spot was setting.

"Third, what happened?" Ingrid plunked down into her seat and let out another frustrated scream.

"My locker. They took my wallet."

"Who?"

"Someone broke into my locker and took my wallet."

"You're sure?"

"I saw them." Fillmore shook his head.

"What about the lock? How'd…"

"They must've known my combination. It is fully intact." Karen nodded.

"I'll take Danny and go see if we can get some prints."

"Highly doubtable. I think they were wearing gloves."

"Think? It's really hard to work a lock with gloves."

"That is true."

"It won't hurt to check."

"Alright." With that, Karen and Danny walked out the door with a toolbox of Karen's supplys. Ingrid put her head on the desk.

"Bad day huh?" She looked up. It was only her and Fillmore in the room now. She nodded slightly.

"You could say that." He looked at his feet and sat on his desk. Ingrid got up and got a cup of hot chocolate, then jumped up on her desk as well.

"Ing, about that note…" She looked up.

"Fillmore it… it wasn't really anything. Just a letter. Don't worry… no information that could put the safety patrol at danger or anything."

"Well then… but there's still someone who stole it. Ing… who do we know that would steal a letter you wrote for me? Ingrid… what did you write?"

"Uh… I don't… remember." This time she was just straight out lying.

"Third, you really aren't ok are you? I can tell you're lying. Why don't you just tell…" Ingrid wrapped her arms around herself.

"I said I don't remember!" Fillmore stepped back. He'd never heard her get so defensive over anything before. She imeadetly regretted it. "Fill…"

"What's wrong Ing?"

"It's just… today's been so… and I'm…"

"No Ing. You've been… distracted lately." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here if you need to talk girl."

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes and brushed his fingers over the red spot on her head.

"Girl, you must've hit your head a bit hard. Of course I'm always here for you. That's what partners are for. Dawg, that's what best friends are for." Ingrid sighed slightly. Fillmore got really quiet and then realized his hand was still on her arm. He yanked it away as if he had touched a hot stove. There was an uncomfortable silence. Fillmore looked nervous. "Man… I gotta jet."

"Alright." Neither one tried to meet the other's gaze.

"See ya." Fillmore jogged off rather quickly.

"Late." After he was out of hearing range she sighed. "Yeah. That's all we are, friends… partners." She wiped a rebel tear from her eye. "There is no use of me pretending you could ever think of me any other way.

.--.END CHAPTER.--.

Okay. How was that?

Please RnR.


End file.
